1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a gateway control apparatus for vehicles and a travel information recording method thereof. More particularly, the gateway control apparatus can store pre-accident and post-accident vehicle state information even in the case of a fender bender or minor collision, so that the information can be used for post-accident judgment of fault and responsibility for the accident and for prevention of future vehicle accidents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern automobiles (also referred to as vehicles herein) often include numerous embedded systems, i.e., electronic control units (ECUs) that control various subsystems in a vehicle. Generally, the gateway control apparatus enables data communication between the ECUs having different communication modes, such as a controller area network (CAN), a local interconnect network (LIN), a media oriented systems transport (MOST), and FlexRay. More particularly, the gateway control apparatus links different control units for various subsystems in a vehicle and has a simple function of recording communication data. As such, the gateway control apparatus can record the communication data, but does not actively analyze or provide vehicle state information. Accordingly, when a vehicle is in an accident such as a fender bender or minor collision while traveling on a road, it is difficult to achieve sufficient analysis of factors contributing to the cause of the accident.
Currently, the gateway control apparatus determines an occurrence of an accident based on if an airbag deploys or if an acceleration sensor detects any sudden deceleration. The gateway control apparatus records vehicle state information if the accident is determined to have occurred. However, in circumstances where the airbag did not deploy or when the deceleration is not clearly an accident, such as in a fender bender or minor collision, the gateway control apparatus does not record the information, and, in the worst case, it omits information relevant to the seriousness of the accident. Often, the gateway control apparatus provides no assistance in prevention of future vehicle accidents. Moreover, since the gateway control apparatus cannot analyze or examine factors that cause the vehicle accident, it is difficult for the vehicle to suitably avoid or prevent future accidents.